Amen means ‘it is sure, so be it’: a yes to what God has said. Jesus is called “the Amen, the faithful and true Witness”. In Deuteronomy 27:15, the Hebrew word is amen (H543): sure, true, so it is. It comes from aman, to be firm: saying amen is saying, this is solid, I stand on it.
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind “Amen” in this verse is the Hebrew word amen (said ah-MAYN).
It means sure, true, so it is. It comes from aman, to be firm: saying amen is saying, this is solid, I stand on it.
Here it is a word on its own, the people’s whole answer: “Amen!” Hebrew uses it like a short, strong ‘yes, truly’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘amen’ 28 times, and ‘truth’ 2 times, both in Isaiah 65:16:
Word by word
| וְשָׂם | בַּסָּתֶר | וְעָנוּ | כָל | הָעָם | וְאָמְרוּ | אָמֵן |
| and · he will set up | in · secrecy | and · they will answer | all | the · people | and · they will say | amen |
Original form
What this tells us
Israel is about to cross into the promised land, and Moses gives them a ceremony to hold there. “Then the Levites shall proclaim in a loud voice to every Israelite” (Deuteronomy 27:14), line by line, what it means to belong to the LORD, and after each line the whole people answer. The word is amen: sure, so it is, so be it. Twelve times in this chapter, after each line, the same answer comes: “And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’” Amen here is not a polite way to finish. It is everyone saying out loud: this is true, and we agree to it. Paul knew the same habit in the churches. He asks how a listener who did not understand a prayer can say ‘Amen’ at the end of it (1 Corinthians 14:16). Saying amen means you have heard and you mean it. Think of signing your name at the bottom of a letter: you are putting your weight behind every line above it. The next time you say amen at the end of a prayer, you are doing what Israel did at the edge of the promised land. You are saying: I stand behind this. What would change if you meant it that way?
What the original says
Behind “Amen, Amen” in this verse is the Hebrew word amen (said ah-MAYN), twice.
It is the same word: sure, truly, so be it.
Here it comes twice in a row, amen amen: doubled for strength, the way we might say ‘yes, yes!’.
The Berean has it as ‘amen’ 28 times, often at the end of a psalm or a blessing, as in “Amen and Amen” (Psalm 41:13):
Word by word
| וַיַּעֲנוּ | כָל | הָעָם | אָמֵן | אָמֵן | בְּמֹעַל | יְדֵיהֶם |
| and · they answered | all | the · people | amen | amen | in · raising of | hands · their |
Original form
What this tells us
The people of Israel have come back from exile and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. Now they gather as one, and “Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for this occasion” (Nehemiah 8:4). As he opens the book of the Law, “all the people stood up” (Nehemiah 8:5). The word is amen. Ezra blesses the LORD, and the answer is not one amen but two, with hands lifted high. Their bodies say it too: “Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.” A doubled amen is a whole-hearted yes. The rest of the chapter shows why it ran so deep. The Levites read the Law “explaining it and giving insight, so that the people could understand what was being read” (Nehemiah 8:8). The people wept as they understood, until Nehemiah told them, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Their amen was an answer to words they finally understood. An amen can be a whole-body yes. Is there a truth you have heard so many times that you have stopped saying amen to it?
What the original says
Behind “of truth” in this verse is the Hebrew word amen (said ah-MAYN), the same amen people say at the end of a prayer.
It is the word amen, used here as a name for God: the God who is sure, the God who is true.
Here it follows elohei, ‘God of’: word for word, ‘the God of amen’. The phrase comes twice in the verse.
Only in this verse does the Berean put it as ‘truth’, 2 times; everywhere else it keeps ‘amen’, 28 times:
Word by word
| בָּאָרֶץ | יִתְבָּרֵךְ | בֵּאלֹהֵי | אָמֵן | וְהַנִּשְׁבָּע | בָּאָרֶץ | יִשָּׁבַע |
| in the · land | he will bless himself | by · God of | amen | and · the · swears an oath | in the · land | he will swear an oath |
Original form
What this tells us
Isaiah is looking ahead to a new beginning. In the next verse God says, “For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17). In that time, the prophet says, people will make their blessings and their promises by God’s own name. The word behind “of truth” is amen. Word for word Isaiah calls him ‘the God of amen’: the God who is himself the yes, the one whose word is firm. When people bless or take an oath, they will do it “by the God of truth.” There will be no one more solid to swear by. The verse ends with relief: “For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight.” A God whose very name is amen can be trusted to keep a promise like that. The New Testament takes up the same idea when Jesus calls himself “the Amen, the faithful and true Witness” (Revelation 3:14). When you say amen, you are leaning on a God who is amen himself. His yes does not change from one day to the next.
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Download on the App StoreWhat the original says
Behind “stand firm in your faith” in this verse is the Hebrew word aman (said ah-MAHN).
It means to be firm, to be sure; in this form, to believe: to put your weight on something firm. The word amen comes from it.
This form, ta’aminu, means ‘you believe’, said to many people. The last word of the verse is the same verb in another form, te’amenu, ‘you will be made firm’. Isaiah plays on the two: if you do not hold firm, you will not be held firm.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘believe’ 34 times, ‘faithful’ 14 times and ‘trust’ 11 times, counting their other forms:
Word by word
| אִם | לֹא | תַאֲמִינוּ | כִּי | לֹא | תֵאָמֵנוּ |
| if | not | you will believe | for | not | you will be established |
Original form
What this tells us
King Ahaz of Judah is terrified. Two kings have joined forces against him, and “the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled like trees in the forest shaken by the wind” (Isaiah 7:2). God sends Isaiah to meet him with a message: “Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid” (Isaiah 7:4). The word behind “stand firm in your faith” is aman: to be firm, and so to believe. Isaiah uses it twice in one line, a play on words that is hard to keep in English: “If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.” Faith here is not a feeling. It is standing on something solid. It is the word behind amen, and the same word used of Abraham: “Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Think of stepping out onto a frozen lake: you put your weight down because you trust the ice will hold. Ahaz is invited to put his weight on God, rather than on the alliances he was planning. Where are you trying to stand right now? This verse says the firm ground is God himself, and believing is putting your weight there.
What the original says
Behind “Truly, truly” in this verse is the Greek word amēn (said ah-MAYN), twice.
It is the Hebrew amen, carried into Greek: truly, surely. In Jesus’ mouth it usually comes first, before what he says, not at the end.
Here it comes twice, amēn amēn, at the start of the sentence. Only John’s Gospel has Jesus doubling it; the other Gospels have a single amēn.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘truly’ 100 times and ‘amen’ 30 times. Jesus’ sayings that begin “Truly I tell you” mostly begin with this word, as in Mark 11:23:
Word by word
| καὶ | εἶπεν | αὐτῷ | ἀμὴν | ἀμὴν | λέγω | σοι |
| and | said | to him | amen | amen | I say | to you |
Original form
What this tells us
Nicodemus is “a man of the Pharisees” and “a leader of the Jews” (John 3:1). He comes to Jesus at night, and he begins politely: “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God” (John 3:2). Jesus answers with something Nicodemus did not ask about. The word behind “Truly, truly” is amēn, the Hebrew amen. Most people say amen at the end, to agree with what someone else has said. Jesus says it at the start, before he speaks. It is as if he signs the statement before he makes it: “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” This way of speaking belongs to Jesus. In the other Gospels he says a single amen before his words, as in “For I tell you truly” (Matthew 5:18), and John has him double it again and again. Christians hear in it someone who does not need anyone else to vouch for what he says. When Jesus says ‘truly’ before a promise, you can lean on what comes after it. What has he said that you find hardest to take at his word?
What the original says
Behind “Amen” in this verse is the Greek word amēn (said ah-MAYN).
It is the same word: the Hebrew amen, truly, so be it.
Here it has ‘the’ in front of it, to amēn, ‘the Amen’, spoken ‘through him’, through Christ, to God, for his glory.
The Berean puts it as ‘amen’ 30 times, often at the end of a prayer of praise, as in “to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:5):
Word by word
| δι᾽ | αὐτοῦ | τὸ | ἀμὴν | τῷ | θεῷ | πρὸς |
| through | him | the | amen | the | to God | for |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul has had to change his travel plans, and some in Corinth say he cannot be trusted. He asks them, “When I planned this, did I do it carelessly?” (2 Corinthians 1:17). Then he points away from himself to God: “But as surely as God is faithful” (2 Corinthians 1:18), what he preached was not a yes that might turn into a no. The word is amēn. Paul says every promise God has made finds its yes in Christ, and then, through Christ, the church speaks its amen back to God. Two words meet in one verse: God’s yes, and our amen. Think of it as a conversation. God speaks a promise, and in Jesus the promise comes true: that is God’s yes. Then his people answer: that is our amen. Jesus himself speaks his amen first when he says “Truly, truly” (John 3:3); here the church answers with its own. Elsewhere Paul ends his praise the same way: “to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:5). Your amen is an answer to God’s yes. Which of his promises do you most need to answer with an amen today?
What the original says
Behind “the Amen” in this verse is the Greek word amēn (said ah-MAYN).
It is the same word, amen, used here as a name for Jesus.
Here it has ‘the’ in front of it again, ho amēn, ‘the Amen’: not a word at the end of a prayer but a title. The next words explain it: “the faithful and true Witness”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘amen’ 30 times and ‘truly’ 100 times; only here is it a name:
Word by word
| τάδε | λέγει | ὁ | ἀμήν | ὁ | μάρτυς | ὁ |
| these things | says | the | amen | the | witness | the |
Original form
What this tells us
These are the opening words of a letter from the risen Jesus to the church in Laodicea, the last of seven churches named at the start of Revelation (Revelation 1:11). It is a hard letter. Jesus tells them, “I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot” (Revelation 3:15). The word is amēn, but here it is a name: “the Amen, the faithful and true Witness.” To a church that had become half-hearted, Jesus introduces himself as the one who is wholly reliable. He is the final ‘so be it’ to everything God has said, the one whose word never wavers between yes and no. It echoes Isaiah, where God is called ‘the God of amen’ (Isaiah 65:16), and Paul, who says God’s promises find their yes in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). And the letter does not end in dismissal but in an invitation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). The one who is the Amen still knocks. The last word on your life belongs to someone who is called the Amen. When you say amen, you are agreeing with him, and he has already said yes to his promises for you.
Behind "amen" are 2 different words
Your English Bible says "amen" 58 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Isaiah said this to a frightened king. Read it slowly:
Name it
Write one promise of God you want to say amen to this week, and why it matters to you now.
Carry with you
Which line of the prayers you say would you mean differently if you remembered what amen means?